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New mobo/cpu/ram


Krambo
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Hello,

 

Looking at getting a new mobo/cpu/ram

 

I have a 850w antec PSU and a GTX 480 gfx card FYI.

 

I am looking at an Intel i7

 

6GB ram ? tri channel.

 

The motherboard I am not to sure about, I currently have an ASUS and it has served me well the past 3 or 4 years but I am prepared to switch to a better one if suggested. It only has a 650i chipset and is socket 775 so no good for future upgrades etc.

 

My budget I?d say is between £400-£500

 

Another questions is I have an Antec 900 case, it was a bit of a squeeze getting the new PSU in with the cables all being surrounded by the black mesh (even though its modular)

 

Will the new MOBO etc fit in this case just as well?

 

Or shall I be looking at a new case also?

 

Thanks in advance to any advice. :worshippy: :worshippy: :worshippy:

 

I will also be checking through other threads relating to new builds.

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The question is are you after a socket 1156/1366 or the new 1155 sandy bridge?

 

You could probably do an i5-2500k W 8gb ram and a decent mobo with 8x/8x sli/cf for about $500 US.

 

Or a i7-950 W 6gb ram and a decent mobo for about the same.

 

The question is are you after bang for your buck and OCing power.

 

The i5-2500k will OC like a little devil, easily going past 4.5ghz. You wont get that lucky with the i7-950. The i7-950 might win some of the multi-threading benches because it can run 8 threads on 4 cores but the i5-2500k will win in gaming with its super-fast 4 cores and 4 threads. In gaming the i5-2500k and the i7-2600k can go toe to toe with the I7 EE 1366 chips that would set you back 1 grand.

Only difference between the i5-2500k and the i7-2600k is 4cores and 4 threads vs 4cores and 8 threads. A hundred more mhz, and about 100 more dollars.

 

As for tri-channel memory you wont see a huge advantages over dual channel. Proper timings and good speed are usualy better in gaming. Most tests ive seen have only been 2-4% apart.

 

Some good cable management should help you with your case. It can be a pain squeezing all those cables but if you take your time you shouldn't have any major problems.

 

There is also a another socket/mobo on its way from intel to replace 1366. Its going to have Quad Channel DDR3. And a few other extra's. It will probably be another mine is bigger socket. :rolleyes:

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Hey,

 

thanks for the reply, much appreciated. :thumbsup_anim:

 

looking at a 1366 board

 

so probably dual channel then, 8gb if theres hardly any difference.

 

anybody else have any input?

Edited by Krambo
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Dual or tri channel is not really a "choice" you do, or better.. you need to choose before you get your Momma board.

 

1366 chipset controls tri-channel only.

1156 and 1155 (sandy) control dual-channel only

 

As explained on previous posts very well from Viiper, DDR3 is natively better for tri-channel.

 

Real reason why Intel came out with an optimization to DDR3 in dual channel is "price". Going toward mainstream builds is of course cheap buying 2 sticks of RAM better than 3.

Therefore all of that marketing showing dual-channel still works. And is true, it works pretty well IF it uses higher speed modules.

 

Also, please reado other recent posts, SandyBridge has a flaw at the moment and there is no short term solution. Newegg is offering refunds to customer who got the new platform, so, IMO, I would stay away from there at the moment.

 

A solid suggestion I can give you for the MB is look for a latest model with the best features on-board like USB 3 and SATA 6 Gb because you wanna use them in the future.

 

Then, your final step is budgeting, do your homework and find what you like. Also, if you have a small case, you want to consider the hybrid cooler Corsair CWCH50-1 Hydro H50 CPU Liquid Cooler with an extra 120 fan

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fantastic thanks.

 

yes after abit of reading, i realise about the boards and the memory now.

 

im at work and pretty limited to what websites i can view, most pc websites are blocked :(

 

yes i saw the post on Sandybridge cheers.

 

all brilliant advice, helping alot.

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:) well i'm going to go with a 1366 board just for future upgrades.

 

also looking at Viiipers thread from a while back im guessing a nice liquid cooler as opposed to a big air cooler.

 

My antec 900 already has a 120mm fan at the back so i can strap say the Corsair H50 to it in a push pull config.

 

this is the motherboard i was looking at...

 

http://www.guru3d.com/article/asus-tuf-sabertooth-x58-review/

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one off the flaws was that the 3gb sata was not good it coud ending up crashing ya HD's so i use the 6gb so cool only dvd on 3gb's

 

and on cooling they state thate OC is best on 18 a 20degrees not - 40 or something so air cooling isn't bad

Edited by EBE
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one off the flaws was that the 3gb sata was not good it coud ending up crashing ya HD's so i use the 6gb so cool only dvd on 3gb's

 

and on cooling they state thate OC is best on 18 a 20degrees not - 40 or something so air cooling isn't bad

 

was this relating to the Sandybridge ?

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yes, it was for Sandy..

 

Krambo about that MB:

 

Honestly I think is an HORRIBLE layout.

 

Look at how the PCI x are:

 

First of all the first main Videocard PCIx will overlap the only other PCI slot, considering 99% of decent cards are dual-slot.

Then you have available only a PCI x1.

 

The 2 PCI x16 are stick into each other, meaning that if one day you will go for CF or SLI, whatever you like better, the second card will exhaust hot air right into the first card with serious cooling problems.

 

I ve been there and i had that problem in person.

 

ASUS MBs suck big time when it comes to "reasonable" layout. I don t know what their engineers are thinking.

 

Choose a MB with reasonable expansion slots and the 2 main PCI x16 have to be double-spaced between themself.

Edited by Batwing~SPARTA~
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Sandy Bridges 3gb sata have been fixed with Revision b3. As for upgrade ability on 1366 that is questionable. 1156 and 1136 wont disappear overnight eg 775, but your not going to see EE editions and the like being produced once the new super 2011 chips come out.

 

But if your really looking to go tri channel, just wait to see what the new z68 quad channel systems look like in like another month or so.

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You have to remember Krambo is on a budget of £400-500 ($600-750 US) for Motherboard/CPU & RAM.

 

Motherboards of quality hover around £150-200 in the UK, ($200-300 US, we pay more in the UK).

My personal fav. manufacturer of MB is GIGABYTE (for features, components & layout), so I dug up this.

 

MOTHERBOARD

£140 UK

 

Socket 1366 (as preferred by OP).

PRICE, FEATURES, SOCKET, MEMORY SLOTS

 

Gigabyte GA-X58A-UD3R (REV 2.0)

http://www.gigabyte.com/products/product-page.aspx?pid=3449#ov

 

@Scan.co.uk

http://www.scan.co.uk/products/1gigabyte-ga-x58a-ud3r-rev-2-intel-x58-s1366-sli-xfire-pci-e-2-ddr3-2200-usb3-and-sata-6gb-s

 

Made Tomshardware recommended buy.

http://www.gigabyte.com/MicroSite/242/index.htm

 

Key features,

 

Support for an Intel® Core™ i7 series processor in the LGA1366 package

ATX Form Factor; 30.5cm x 24.4cm

3TB+ HDD support with bios flashed to FF10 from FF

Twin bios (backup) 2 x 16 Mbit flash

Support for 2-Way/3-Way ATI CrossFireX™/NVIDIA SLI technology

DDR3 DIMM sockets supporting up to 24 GB of system memory

Support for DDR3 2200/1333/1066/800 MHz memory modules

live USB sockets on/off, allowing phones etc to be charged from computer while it's off.

1 x Realtek RTL8111E chip (10/100/1000 Mbit)

8 x SATA 3Gb/s connectors (no problems like Sandy bridge)

2 x SATA 6Gb/s connectors

1 x IDE connector supporting ATA-133/100/66/33 and up to 2 IDE devices

rear USB

4 x USB 2.0/1.1 ports

2 x USB 3.0 ports

Up to 10 USB 2.0/1.1 ports (6 on the back panel, including 2 eSATA/USB Combo, 4 via the USB brackets connected to the internal USB headers)

High Definition Audio

2/4/5.1/7.1-channel

 

 

i7 CPU support

 

Intel Core™ i7-990X 3.46GHz 12MB Gulftown 32nm B1 130W 6.4GT/s FF

Intel Core™ i7-980X 3.33GHz 12MB Gulftown 32nm B1 130W 6.4GT/s FF

Intel Core™ i7-970 3.20GHz 12MB Gulftown 32nm B1 130W 6.4GT/s FF

Intel Core™ i7-975 3.33GHz 8MB Bloomfield 45nm D0 130W 6.4GT/s FF

Intel Core™ i7-965 3.20GHz 8MB Bloomfield 45nm C0 130W 6.4GT/s FF

Intel Core™ i7-960 3.20GHz 8MB Bloomfield 45nm D0 130W 4.8GT/s FF

Intel Core™ i7-950 3.06GHz 8MB Bloomfield 45nm D0 130W 4.8GT/s FF

Intel Core™ i7-940 2.93GHz 8MB Bloomfield 45nm C0 130W 4.8GT/s FF

Intel Core™ i7-930 2.80GHz 8MB Bloomfield 45nm D0 130W 4.8GT/s FF

Intel Core™ i7-920 2.66GHz 8MB Bloomfield 45nm C0 130W 4.8GT/s FF

Intel Core™ i7-920 2.66GHz 8MB Bloomfield 45nm D0 130W 4.8GT/s FF

 

 

MEMORY (DDR3 Tri-Channel - PC3-12800)

£55 UK

 

GeIL 6GB (3x2GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C8

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MY-112-GL&groupid=701&catid=8&subcat=1389

 

 

£75

Corsair 6GB 1600MHz CL8 DDR3 Vengeance

http://www.cclonline.com/product/46150/CMZ6GX3M2A1600C8/Desktop-Memory/Corsair-6GB-1600MHz-CL8-DDR3-Vengeance-Memory-Three-Module-Kit/RAM1199/#

 

 

 

 

THAT'S £200 UK TOTAL

So we have £200-300 for CPU & COOLER

 

 

£200

 

Intel Core i7 950 3.06GHz (Bloomfield) (Socket LGA1366)

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=CP-344-IN&groupid=701&catid=6&subcat=1272

 

or

 

£240

 

Intel Core i7 960 3.20Ghz (Socket LGA1366)

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=CP-303-IN&groupid=701&catid=6&subcat=1272

 

 

£227

 

Intel Core i7-960 3.20Ghz Quad Core Processor

http://www.cclonline.com/product/26630/BX80601960/CPUs/Intel-Core-i7-960-Quad-Core-Processor/CPU1069/

 

 

 

TOTAL £400 or £430 with 3.2Ghz UK

 

Slip in a Specialized COOLER

 

£55

Corsair Hydro H50-1 High-Performance CPU Watercooler (Socket LGA775/1155/1156/1366/AM2/AM3)

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=WC-002-CS&groupid=962&catid=1532&subcat=

 

 

 

Total spend - less than £500 UK MAX BUDGET.

 

 

Now you will probably find the USA guys can get all this stuff around 20-30% cheaper...

LUCKY THEM...

 

 

 

PERFORMANCE

 

 

P.S.

TOM'S HARDWARE CPU CHART

http://www.tomshardware.com/charts/desktop-cpu-charts-2010/benchmarks,112.html

 

 

3D Mark overall performance

http://www.tomshardware.com/charts/desktop-cpu-charts-2010/3DMark-Vantage-Overall-Performance,2416.html

 

Around 15800 for the 960 i7 3.2Ghz, remember it auto turbos to 3.46Ghz by itself !!!!

 

£450 upgrade with a TOP 10 CPU.

 

 

Question

 

Krambo are you on Windows 7? and if so 64bit?

you need 64bit for 6Gb's memory....

 

 

Windows 7 Home Edition 64bit

 

 

 

Intel Core i7-2600 (Sandy Bridge 4c/8t) is a good CPU but I can't tell you about revisions and issues with BIOS, like xxx said since rev B3 recall fixes are in place but you know new tech. £240 for CPU.

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Thats fantastic guys thanks very much, will defo have a look at a different Mobo.

 

Viii yes I am on 64bit win7 ultimate.

 

Really appreciate the thorough post, gave me some more things to consider and think about.

 

Cheers all, anything anybody else would like to add id love to hear it.

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I've been running my i7 since April 2010 and it's been a honey.....

Memory is cheap again, 6GB £55-80 12GB £110-160.

 

Keep your CD/DVd / PSU / GPU/ CASE/KEYBOARD /MOUSE/ MONITOR

dump your floppy & stick in a multi card reader SD/MMC/xD/Sony MS/CF.

Modern boards can boot USB or FLASH CARDS for updates to BIOS or backups of critical data/ floppies are dead.

 

keep us updated with that you decide on....

 

 

p.s. nice to see your still gaming.

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Yeah, im plannin on keepin the rest, just got a gtx 480 and im confident my new 850w antec psu will cover all this?

 

The corsair memory i was lookin at was over £100 for 6gb, that was dominator though.

 

Will defo do that Viii,

 

Thanks mate, really appreciate the help.

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You don't need the dominator, 12GB of the Gskill £110, maximum satisfaction, I run 12Gb (OCZ GOLD) and have loads of

appz running, sometimes I don't reboot for days....

 

i7 3.2 is a sweet CPU, others like the new Sandy bridge but I never researched them.

I don't know what the weak points are, but I do know the i7 1366 is a monster CPU.

 

Photoshop = a breeze

games = a breeze

desktop video wallpaper = a breeze

I really like it especially multi threading....

 

not all appz use all cores so you don't always get super slick performance but new stuff is sweet on x cores.

PS CS4 loads in 4-5 seconds (64bit)

 

See toms hardware for a general picture of performance.

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By the way my prices were based on US Dollars which I believe it costs more US then Euro's?

 

The main reason im preaching 1155 is because its alot of power for little money. As long as you are willing to OC, and with the K series its pretty easy you just increase the Multiplier, and add voltage if needed.

 

Also is it just me or are we always fighting over the same thing rviper? :star-wars:

 

Either way im sure Intel will pump out a new chipset in 2-3 years............

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Now i cant decide on X58 chipset - triple channel or

 

Q67 chipset - dual channel

 

The Q67 supports 6gb/sec SATA, X58 doesn't.

 

They both have the Pci slot that i'd like

 

Q67 has a faster bus speed

 

The X58 mobo we lookes at has an IDE port, which i may use

 

The Q67 mobo's i looked at dont

 

Torn

 

Help... Please :)

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Some 67's have IDE some dont. IDE is pretty dead nowadays. OMG YOUR USING IDE!!!!!!!! Your so 90's.

I have also been reading that AMD has AM3+ in the works, and we should start seeing reviews in a month or so.

 

It's kinda like shopping early for Xmas presents only to have them go on sale a week before Xmas.

Its also sad that spell check thinks Xmas is a word............

 

Don't forget that there are still company's like EVGA that haven't shipped the 67's yet. So there will be more models and choices as time goes on.

 

There is 71 boards listed for 1155 at newegg, there was like 50 2 weeks ago.

Edited by Donziboy2
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Brill thanks mate.

 

Haha i know, its just a dvd-rw drive, which is like 15 quid to replace so its not a big deal. But if the mobo had IDE its £15 i wouldnt have to spend.

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